WaPo | Van Cleave has appealed to his supporters not to come bristling with
intimidating long guns — including assault-style rifles such as the
AR-15 — and politely suggested that militia members are welcome but do
not need to provide security. Police will take care of that, he said,
“not to mention enough citizens armed with handguns to take over a
modern midsized country.”
That
firepower is a concern for gun-control advocates, who also plan to turn
out on Jan. 20 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — for what is a traditional
day of citizen lobbying at the state Capitol.
“There’s
a dangerous intersection here of speech and guns, and what I think is
critically important is that we don’t see the sort of armed intimidation
and even violence that resulted . . . in Charlottesville,” said Adam
Skaggs, chief counsel and policy director at Giffords Law Center.
Democratic
lawmakers who now control both houses of the General Assembly are
considering making rules changes to limit where guns can be carried when
the legislature convenes on Wednesday.
Visitors
are currently allowed to bring guns onto Capitol Square and — with a
concealed-weapons permit — into the Capitol itself and the adjacent
Pocahontas Building. Firearms are even permitted in the House gallery,
though the Senate gallery is off- limits.
